New Zealand's tour of England - The Lowdown
Normally when describing an upcoming international series of any sport, writers will use phrases such as ‘eagerly awaited’ and ‘the juices are beginning to flow’. These phrases are hardly appropriate for the imminent England vs. New Zealand three match test series, which involves two teams that slugged it out in another three test series just a couple of months ago. With the away team, England, winning that series 2-1, it goes without saying that they will be firm favourites for this one.
The New Zealand squad have made a quiet entrance to England, with their first two warm-up matches badly interrupted by rain, and their third match resulting in a 92 run win over Essex. They complete their preparations with a four day match against a strong England Lions team this week, before heading into the first test at Lords Thursday week. The make-up of their squad is a mixture of classy players such as captain Daniel Vettori, keeper Brendan McCullum and all-rounder Jacob Oram, who was their best bowler in their recent defeat to England, inexperienced young guns such as Tim Southee and Daniel Flynn and a number of journeymen pros. Bowlers Chris Martin and Kyle Mills just about avoid the journeyman tag, but they will need to be in their best form if they are to make a significant impact. Their batting is fragile to say the least; the retirement of Stephen Fleming will hit them hard, and unless McCullum is pushed into the opening position their top order will only have one test match hundred between them, and the scorer of that hundred, Ross Taylor, will look to establish himself as their main man in the middle order.
England have a much stronger look about them, but all eyes will be on the return of Andrew Flintoff, who looks set to be thrust back into the test match arena after impressing with the ball for Lancashire so far this season. His poor batting form has been noted however, and it is likely he will adopt the no.7 role. The top six in the order almost picks itself, with Andrew Strauss’ superb knock of 177 in the third test of the recent series silencing his critics and guaranteeing him a elongated run in the side. The only batsmen not to impress in New Zealand were Michael Vaughan, who as captain is certain to retain his place and Alastair Cook who has shown too much in his short test career to be dropped after one bad series. Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood and Ian Bell are all sure to retain their places after averaging over 40 in New Zealand, which is just as well for them as Ravi Bopara and Owais Shah are breathing down their necks after impressive starts to their county campaigns. With Tim Ambrose looking certain to be retained as wicketkeeper, Flintoff’s return, and Ryan Sidebottom and Monty Panesar shoe-ins, the only place in the side left is the third fast bowler spot. It is likely to be a race between Matthew Hoggard, who has a chance to impress in the upcoming Lions match and Stuart Broad. James Anderson and Steve Harmison have been shown-up to be too erratic and in Harmison’s case, now too slow, for the test match arena. Many readers will be surprised by that assessment of Anderson after his excellent display of controlled swing bowling which tore New Zealand apart in the second test in the winter, which perhaps changed the momentum of the whole series in England’s favour, but he then followed that up with an abject and woeful display in the third test, which I’m afraid sums up his career. So onto the Hoggard vs. Broad battle, the battle of the reliable old pro and the young gun who is making all the headlines. Hoggard has been England’s most consistent bowler for many years, and can claim to have ‘been there, done that’, but he was dropped, perhaps unfairly, in New Zealand after one test, and Broad came in and did a terrific job, so the selectors may feel that Broad deserves to keep his place.
A 3-0 win will be expected from all England fans, but they will face have to overcome their recent poor form at Lords, where they have drawn their last four tests, which followed a drubbing by Australia there in 2005. It is hard to make a case for New Zealand winning a test with the chasm of class between the sides, but perhaps they will surprise us?
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